Vagina Facts of Life

Last class' vagina fact provoked a pretty intense emotional response. Between the clitoris being the "only organ in the body designed purely for pleasure" as well as having "twice the nerves as those contained within the penis," I'd have to agree that the clitoris is an amazing part of the body. However, don't get too excited yet. This fact is only steeped in science. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised the same author who wrote "I Am An Emotional Creature" would include a purely scientific fact in her book. What ever became of the angry vagina - the "pissed off" vagina who wanted people to "stop shoving things into me" like "dry fucking wads of cotton?" I mean, "I Am An Emotional Creature's" title poem is all but lambasting men because "thoughts do not come to me (not men) as hard-shaped ideas or scientific theories." Well, in that case...why did she include this particular vagina fact if she seems to have such an aversion to science? The simplest answer is that Ensler is a writer of dualities, much like Danticat, who appeals to both the mind and the heart - science and raw emotionality - logos and pathos. She knows her audience isn't going to just be militant feminists who blindly agree with everything she says. She wants people from every categorization to read what she has to say. Not just feminists; in fact, I get the impression Ensler wants people to challenge her ideas, as the best "shock writers" often want. Transgendered people, androgynes, tired housewives, chauvinistic businessmen, and ambivalent people who don't care much for women's issues all have a place in Ensler's audience. This is all a testament to Ensler's skill as an effective writer. She knows that in order to reach the largest audience, to change the world's preconceptions (as well as create ideas where nothing else may have existed previously), you need to write something which can be relevant to anyone and everyone.

However, as an aside, I want to add an unscientific dimension to Ensler's vagina fact. It's a dimension Ensler surprisingly looks over, especially when her track record for relying mostly on her own experiences, the experiences of others, and her vulnerable writing style is brought into question. Let's take a look at the protaganist in Danticat's "Night Women." It's obvious the mother hates her profession, and is wholly unsatisfied. Why is that? If this fact showed the entire truth, she'd be the happiest, most fulfilled woman in New York City. All prostitutes would. There's more to feeling pleasure than nerves, science, and "hard-shaped ideas." Pleasure and sensuality is an art form which appeals as much to the brain as it does to the eye, the heart, and virtually every other sense unseen. I don't think the clitoris is the "only organ in the body designed for pleasure," and it is just as capable of feeling pain as any other organ of the body is. Furthermore, the 'pleasure' felt by the clitoris seems awfully one-sided and shallow. The clitoris does not have the raw passion of the heart, the aesthetics of the eye, nor depth of the brain. Sexual organs themselves do not have depth of emotions like the other senses do.

However, when the clitoris and all the other organs are able to join together on the same plane...that's when you've got a machine gun.